Good morning, New York Giants' fans! Let's get you some reading material for what looks like a soggy Sunday here in the Northeast.
Spend some time today reading Ralph Vacchiano's terrific piece on second-round draft pick Marvin Austin in the Daily News. It will leave you feeling optimistic about the young man's NFL future.
Here is the money quote from North Carolina coach Butch Davis, talking about what he told NFL teams who inquired about Austin prior to the NFL Draft:
"The character question always came up," says Davis. "And I said 'Look, this kid busts his butt at practice, he plays hard, he made a bad decision.' In my own personal opinion there are different types of character flaws. None of this stuff has anything to do with arrests or felonies or all of the charges that you see proliferating through the NFL. No domestic violence issues. Marvin doesn't drink, he doesn't do drugs, he doesn't do any of that.
"He made a bad choice. He paid an enormously heavy price. That was tough. But I think it's a one-time thing."
I neglected to post an update Saturday on the condition Giants' running back Charles Scott following a car accident earlier this week. The Star-Ledger reported that Scott just came away with "cuts and bruises." Forgetting football for a minute, that is good news.
There appears to be plenty of skepticism around the league as to the value of player organized workouts such as Camp Eli, organized by Giants quarterback Eli Manning. All I know is I like the idea of players at least showing the intitiative and desire to do something.